The Parable of the Kingsmaid
Heaven was not always the kingdom of God. In the time before history, when legends were being born to the earth, it was the name given to the first true kingdom of Man. In the final days of Heaven on Land, under the leadership of the good king Milos, there came a magician. With his bells and his excitement, he delighted the royal court, none so much as the Kingsmaid Verona, who clapped and laughed like a girl at her mother’s skirts. “In thanks for Your Gracious praise,” said the magician, swathed in his colors, “allow this humble performer to bestow upon the throne…a gift.” King Milos, ever watchful, was suspicious. But Verona’s face was lit with glee fit for children. The magician, with a wide grin, revealed two things: at his left hand was a golden box, veined with silver and studded with gemstones from the world over, and topped with a statue of crystal. It glittered in the light of the royal torches. At the magician’s right hand, though, was a simple sack. A mere sack, as would hold grain or barley, coarse and stitched linen and tied with yarn. It merely sat, unadorned and pitiful. King Milos, ever prideful, sat insulted at the sight of the thing. But the Kingsmaid, ah, she had been taught well by her sires and her nurses. Yes. For she knew that the box was mere show. She knew that the true gift was hidden, for the magician was a clever sort, and the twinkle in his eyes was a test for the royal couple. And so she said to her husband, “Allow me to select, my king most gracious. I shall show this magician my wisdom.” King Milos trusted dearest Verona, and so he bade her choose. “I select the gift hidden by simple cloth and strings,” she said to the magician, who blinked with surprise. “That is what I choose. Show us, magician, I bid you. Show us.” And the magician, with a flourish, bowed his head and bent his knee. “Wise forever you shall be, Queen of Heaven. For the gift of the golden box is empty. The worth of it is in itself. The gold and silver and gems most glittering. But here…yes, here…the true gift is hidden.” The magician did take up the grainery sack and pull at its string, and out from the mouth of the sack came a light so bright, so glorious, that all present in the court shielded their eyes. And as they sat blinded, the magician did speak. Said he, “Everything a leader of Man may wish: fortune, glory, prestige. No disease shall take you. No usurper shall dethrone you. No disaster shall defame you. For this is the Blessing of Your Father, and He is pleased.” And so was Heaven blessed. For the magician had tested her, and she had prevailed. She had seen past the glitter and shine. So great was the glory of Heaven that its walls shone too brightly for other Men. So high stacked the honors of Heaven that its weight sank into the earth. And so the Father Most High, He of Many Hands, took up the kingdom of Heaven and brought it into His skies, and ever after has Heaven remained there. To this day, we remember the wisdom of the Kingsmaid, and we know that the greatest of gifts may come in the most unexpected of forms.